The present invention is concerned with rack-mounted computing systems, and particularly concerns systems comprising a supporting structure such as a rack and a number of circuit modules, each of the circuit modules having a memory and/or a processing circuit or xe2x80x9cmotherboardxe2x80x9d and a number of ancillary elements such as disc drives, smart cards drive, power supply units, and the like.
Modular systems have been developed to facilitate the assembly of complex and powerful computing systems from standardised component modules, wherein each module has a xe2x80x9cmotherboardxe2x80x9d providing processing and memory capability, and ancillary elements to provide power to, and to communicate data to and from, the processor or memory. Servicing of the modules has hitherto involved partial or complete removal of the module from the rack, which increases servicing time. To reduce servicing time, ancillary elements such as disc drives have been configured so as to be removable from the module without removing the module from the rack.
Removable ancillary elements enable the rapid repair and upgrading of a fault in the computing system, by simply removing the faulty or inadequate elements and replacing them with serviceable or enhanced ones. This operation may even be done while the remainder of the system continues to function, in an operation known as xe2x80x9chot swappingxe2x80x9d.
The system board or motherboard has always been considered an integral part of a module, and any servicing of the motherboard (comprising the I/O memory or processing circuit), necessitates removal of the module from the rack.
The present invention seeks to provide a rack-mountable module for a modular electronic circuit wherein servicing of all parts of the module can be effected without removing the module from the rack. One embodiment of the invention provides a circuit module wherein the motherboard is detachably mountable within the module. In an alternative embodiment peripheral and ancillary components and elements are detachably mountable to the module.
Embodiments of the present invention provide a module for a modular computing circuit which enables replacement of a faulty motherboard without the need to remove an entire module from the computing circuit, a computing circuit incorporating such a module, and a computer repair procedure.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a modular electronic circuit formed by a plurality of circuit modules mounted to a supporting rack and electrically interconnected, each module comprising a main processing or memory circuit and at least one ancillary device, wherein the main processing or memory circuit is mounted to the module so as to be removable when the module is in the rack. The ancillary devices, such as data drives, cooling units, or power supply units may also be detachably mounted to the module. Embodiments are foreseen wherein all active components of the circuit are detachably mounted in the module for selective replacement or upgrading. When all removable components have been removed from such a module, only the housing having the mechanical fixings and electrical interfaces remains. The housing, which contains no active components, exhibits high reliability and is intended never to need removal from the rack.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a circuit module comprising a housing mountable to a supporting structure, receiving elements for releaseably receiving a main processing or memory circuit within the housing, and an ancillary device such as a power supply unit mounted within the housing. The module may further comprise cooling fans and/or data drives.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for rectifying a fault in a processing circuit of a module by replacing a processing or memory circuit of a circuit module wherein the processing or memory circuit is detachably mounted to the module while the module is mounted to a rack, the method involving removing the processing or memory circuit while leaving the remainder of the module in the rack, and mounting a serviceable processing or memory circuit in place of the faulty circuit.